WASHINGTON -- Scythian, a collection of four classically trained musicians who have spent the last three years developing a following in pubs from D.C. to New York, is not easy to label. A set from their regular Thursday night gig at Fado Irish Pub in Washington features dueling fiddle action by Oleksander (Alex) Fedoryka and Josef Crosby; a slightly Celtic-tinged rendition of "Wild Thing"; a funky washboard/drum solo by Mike Ounallah; and happy-go-lucky encouragement by guitarist Danylo (Dan)

WASHINGTON -- Scythian, a collection of four classically trained musicians who have spent the last three years developing a following in pubs from D.C. to New York, is not easy to label. A set from their regular Thursday night gig at Fado Irish Pub in Washington features dueling fiddle action by Oleksander (Alex) Fedoryka and Josef Crosby; a slightly Celtic-tinged rendition of "Wild Thing"; a funky washboard/drum solo by Mike Ounallah; and happy-go-lucky encouragement by guitarist Danylo (Dan)

The Scythians were an ancient nomadic people who occupied present-day Ukraine north of the Black Sea. They prospered from the fifth to the third century B.C., and they made magnificent objects of gold -- jewelry, weapons, horse trappings and ceremonial objects.The Walters Art Gallery will announce today that in the spring of 2000, it will present "Scythian Gold: Treasures from Ancient Ukraine," an exhibit of 165 Scythian works, most of which have been discovered in recent years and never before seen in this country.

The two-day 2004 Maryland BBQ Bash was held this weekend in downtown Bel Air. The event featured the third annual Maryland State BBQ Championship, a variety of activities and live entertainment. Above, Maria Schueler and her 3-year-old granddaughter, Ciera Schueler, both of Hickory, are the first to dance to the music of Scythian. Left, Lex Fedoryka, Scythian's lead singer and fiddler, jumped off stage to play among the crowd during Friday's set. Below, Jared Keil (left), Brennan Keil and Josephine Fang, all of Bel Air, sample some of the food.

ANYONE missing the exhibition of recently dug-up Scythian objects at the Walters Art Gallery can catch it at the end of next year at the Grand Palais in Paris. Anyone missing the show of 19th and 20th century French painting at the Baltimore Museum of Art can see it during the summer tourist season next year at the Royal Academy of Art in London. Those with limited money, time or patience might rather seize the moment. The Scythians plundered through ancient Mesopotamia and settled north of the Black Sea, where they traded with Greeks reaching the heights of artistic powers.

Can you tell me if the Scythian Gold exhibit at the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, Russia, will be open in January? When I was in the city last year, it was closed to the public.The Scythian exhibit is open daily except Monday from 10: 30 a.m. to 4 p.m., but visitors must sign up as members of a group. The groups are assembled on the spot and leave every 15 minutes. The tour lasts from an hour to an hour and a half, depending on the interest shown by the visitors.Tickets cost the equivalent of $8.50 a person and are valid for the rest of the museum, which remains open to 6 p.m. every day except Monday.

The two-day 2004 Maryland BBQ Bash was held this weekend in downtown Bel Air. The event featured the third annual Maryland State BBQ Championship, a variety of activities and live entertainment. Above, Maria Schueler and her 3-year-old granddaughter, Ciera Schueler, both of Hickory, are the first to dance to the music of Scythian. Left, Lex Fedoryka, Scythian's lead singer and fiddler, jumped off stage to play among the crowd during Friday's set. Below, Jared Keil (left), Brennan Keil and Josephine Fang, all of Bel Air, sample some of the food.

They were the Hell's Angels of the central Asian steppes. Beginning sometime in the eighth century B.C., they swept out of the east to conquer the region of present-day Ukraine and control the fertile grasslands along the northern shore of the Black Sea. Known as the Scythians, this nomadic tribe of fierce warrior-horsemen was renowned for its skill in battle and for the ruthlessness with which it dispatched its enemies. For the next 400 years, the Scythians were the roughest, toughest guys on the block.

Was everybody thin in those days? Where did they get the gold? Did everyone have a horse? A funny thing happens when you send three museum experts to a museum with instructions to comment upon what they see: They come up with at least a few questions that any of us could have asked. To some extent, that's the point. For the past 11 years, the American Association of Museums has asked a panel of professionals to visit an exhibition and critique it. The experts then report their findings at the association's annual convention.

Swaddled in white quilting, the sculpture resembles a big baby. It dangles from a thick chain about five feet above ground; its oval eyes peer impassively from beneath the protective padding. Just below, in the Renaissance Sculpture Court of the Walters Art Gallery, Mike McKee painstakingly pulls on the chain, hoisting the statue higher as three other men strain to hold it steady. Known as a "baba," the sculpture is carved from granite and weighs 2,500 pounds. It was made by the Scythians, nomadic warriors who ruled the land north of the Black Sea (now part of Ukraine)

Was everybody thin in those days? Where did they get the gold? Did everyone have a horse? A funny thing happens when you send three museum experts to a museum with instructions to comment upon what they see: They come up with at least a few questions that any of us could have asked. To some extent, that's the point. For the past 11 years, the American Association of Museums has asked a panel of professionals to visit an exhibition and critique it. The experts then report their findings at the association's annual convention.

ANYONE missing the exhibition of recently dug-up Scythian objects at the Walters Art Gallery can catch it at the end of next year at the Grand Palais in Paris. Anyone missing the show of 19th and 20th century French painting at the Baltimore Museum of Art can see it during the summer tourist season next year at the Royal Academy of Art in London. Those with limited money, time or patience might rather seize the moment. The Scythians plundered through ancient Mesopotamia and settled north of the Black Sea, where they traded with Greeks reaching the heights of artistic powers.

Swaddled in white quilting, the sculpture resembles a big baby. It dangles from a thick chain about five feet above ground; its oval eyes peer impassively from beneath the protective padding. Just below, in the Renaissance Sculpture Court of the Walters Art Gallery, Mike McKee painstakingly pulls on the chain, hoisting the statue higher as three other men strain to hold it steady. Known as a "baba," the sculpture is carved from granite and weighs 2,500 pounds. It was made by the Scythians, nomadic warriors who ruled the land north of the Black Sea (now part of Ukraine)

They were the Hell's Angels of the central Asian steppes. Beginning sometime in the eighth century B.C., they swept out of the east to conquer the region of present-day Ukraine and control the fertile grasslands along the northern shore of the Black Sea. Known as the Scythians, this nomadic tribe of fierce warrior-horsemen was renowned for its skill in battle and for the ruthlessness with which it dispatched its enemies. For the next 400 years, the Scythians were the roughest, toughest guys on the block.

The Scythians were an ancient nomadic people who occupied present-day Ukraine north of the Black Sea. They prospered from the fifth to the third century B.C., and they made magnificent objects of gold -- jewelry, weapons, horse trappings and ceremonial objects.The Walters Art Gallery will announce today that in the spring of 2000, it will present "Scythian Gold: Treasures from Ancient Ukraine," an exhibit of 165 Scythian works, most of which have been discovered in recent years and never before seen in this country.

Can you tell me if the Scythian Gold exhibit at the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, Russia, will be open in January? When I was in the city last year, it was closed to the public.The Scythian exhibit is open daily except Monday from 10: 30 a.m. to 4 p.m., but visitors must sign up as members of a group. The groups are assembled on the spot and leave every 15 minutes. The tour lasts from an hour to an hour and a half, depending on the interest shown by the visitors.Tickets cost the equivalent of $8.50 a person and are valid for the rest of the museum, which remains open to 6 p.m. every day except Monday.

Ellen D. Reeder, a former curator at the Walters Art Museum, has been named director of the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington. Reeder, who was curator of ancient art at the Walters from 1984 to 1999, will assume her new post Monday. Until recently, she was deputy director for art at the Brooklyn Museum of Art in New York, where she was responsible for collections, curatorial activities, exhibits, education, conservation and reference libraries. "I consider it an honor and privilege to serve as director of the National Museum of Women in the Arts, and look forward to bringing the work of this exceptional museum to an even larger national and international audience," Reeder said in a statement.

Baltimore artist Herman Maril is the subject of two shows this month, both of which reflect the artist's lifelong fascination with subjects close at hand. (One show, curated by former Sun art critic John Dorsey, proves that there is indeed life after a career as a scribe.) "Many Seasons," a collection of Maril's paintings of sporting events, is at Loyola College Art Gallery through May 3. "Interiors With Openings: Herman Maril Inside Looking Out" is a selection of Maril's paintings of house interiors at Galerie Francoise in Lutherville.